21 Nov Festive Cranberry Orange Galette with Rosemary and Ginger

As many of you know, I am not just a butter-and-edible-glitter-obsessed baker. In my other life, I’m a marketing and advertising professional who works big girl nine-to-five job. Butterlust is something that I do for a hobby versus a means of income (for now, at least). Well, I’m making a change! On Monday I put in my 2 weeks notice at my current position! On December 2nd I will be starting in a new position at a new company and, man, it feels good!

I’ve been looking for a new job for quite some time now. When I decided to pursue a new position I also decided to take my time and find a new role & company that I could get pumped (!!!) about. I wanted to find something that was downtown near my new condo, that I knew would be challenging and will push me to grow, paid more than I’m making now (duh. this homeowner thing ain’t cheap!) and a company that had a really strong culture.

Of course, that can be hard to find. And changing jobs is tough. Interviewing can be a whole lot of bleh. When you’re ready to move on it’s easy to throw the list of requirements out the window and jump at every potential opportunity to get yourself into a new job.

But, if there is anything that I have learned throughout this process is the importance if trusting your gut. I almost took a position at one point where I felt a little hesitant about whether it was the right fit. And then once there was an offer on the table, I felt incredibly rushed to make a decision. It ended up not working out and I am 100% confident it was for the best. I listened to my instinct and stood up for myself when I felt I was being a little bullied by the potential employer. I’d like to give myself a little pat on the back for that. And maybe a self clap! Ain’t nobody got time for bullies.

Now, I’ve found something that meets all my search criteria and feel GREAT about my decision to join the team. All is as it should be.

And while it will be sad to leave some of my current coworkers, I’m so very excited to move on to bigger and better things!

We’ve got so much to celebrate! New jobs, Thanksgiving, Christmas being on the way (!), and of course, buttery holiday treats!

Let’s drink feast (or both?) to all of the above with a Festive Cranberry Orange Galette!

Note that spell check is trying to tell me Galette isn’t a word. Suggestions for “correct” spelling include Gillette. Like the razor. I guess if spell check doesn’t know what a galette is, maybe you don’t either. As you can probably tell from the photos, a galette is a sort of “rustic pie” with a free form crust that ditches the traditional pie dish. A lazy girl’s pie if you will – even though I think they’re just as beautiful! (And let’s be honest, anybody who goes through the trouble of making their own pie dough is FAR from lazy. CanIgetta Amen?)

I’ve been practicing my pie dough making skillz since the great pastry fail of Father’s Day 2013 and I’m happy to say I’m feeling much more confident in my ability! I might even venture to say that this crust is pretty damn good! I used a combination of butter and shortening and I love the flakiness that the shortening gives to the dough, while the butter of course imparts it’s oh-so-amazing flavor that is often missed in all shortening recipes.

For this bundle of festivity, I combined the fresh cranberries with all of the holiday essentials: apples, rosemary, ginger, orange zest, brown sugar and honey. If I had some Grand Marnier I would have added that too! There is a lot going on but the flavors marry together brilliantly.

For real, this dessert tastes like Christmas. In your mouth.

It would be perfectly at home on your holiday dessert table garnished with fresh rosemary and a sprinkle of powdered sugar. In fact, I really wanted to use fresh rosemary as a garnish for these photos but unfortunately I was fresh out. Life is tough.

I feel like I should warn you that if you’re a chocolate and peanut butter type of person this may not be the dessert for you. It definitely has a complex fruity + herbal quality that makes it well suited for the type of person who enjoys sweets like gingerbread or fig and date desserts. Come to think of it, this galette would be quite lovely with a glass of English tea for either breakfast or dessert. So take that for what it’s worth.

Put the flour, sugar and salt into a food processor fitted with the blade; pulse the ingredients to combine.

Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until they are cut into the flour - don't over mix! There should be some pieces the size of peas and some a little smaller.

Add 3 tablespoons of ice water 1 at a time, pulsing once or twice in between each. Once added use a few long pulses to combine more thoroughly. If the dough does not start to come together, add more water 1 tablespoon at a time. I ended up using about 5 tablespoons. The dough is ready when it looks evenly moistened and forms soft curds or sticks together when you pinch it between your fingers.

Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a floured surface. I poured mine right onto a sheet of parchment paper so I could put it right into the fridge.

Gather the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least an hour before rolling out.

Once the dough is chilled, place the dough onto a well floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 1/8 inch in circle. Use a sharp knife or a pastry wheel, trim the dough to a 13-inch circle. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For the filling

Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 400 while you make the filling.

Combine all of the ingredients except the decorating and confectioners sugar in a large bowl. Mix to coat and set aside.

For the assembly:

Mix the ground nuts and bread crumbs in a bowl.

Remove the rolled out dough from the refrigerator. Use a cake pan or pot lid to gently mark a 9-inch circle in the dough - this is the area for the filling.

Evenly sprinkle the nut & breadcrumb mixture over the filling area then top with the filling.

Gently lift the unfilled border of the pie dough up and onto the filling. As you continue to do so, the dough will pleat. Continue all the way around the border of the galette.

Brush the dough with some water or an egg wash (1 egg beaten with a splash of water) and sprinkle it with a tsp or two of course decorating sugar.

Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden brown.

Place the cookie sheet on a rack to cool for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes time, carefully slide the parchment paper off of the baking sheet and onto the rack and let cool completely.